A Repository for C. A. Howard's Brain Traffic

Da Luigi, the restaurant in this photo, is not far from the Blue Grotto on Capri. If I had only one afternoon to live, I think I would like to spend it here. Drift on in to the little cove in the boat you've hired for the day, drop anchor, and await the restaurant's launch that will bring you in to the sunbathing area. This is where I like to look around to see if my future wife is in attendance. From there, a chatty Italian waiter will escort you to your table, where you are encouraged to while away the afternoon over delicious food, wine, and plates of olives, prosciutto, and parmigiano.

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Sunday, May 07, 2006

What's Wrong with The Sopranos This Season??

By the time the two-year (it seemed like five) hiatus came to an end and the first episode of Season 6 was on deck, I set aside my exasperation with the long break and focused on settling in to a season of Sunday nights (at my friends Jay and Margaret's house, as they have HBO and I don't even have a TV) spent with that warm and fuzzy collection of role models, headed up by Tony, Christophaaah, Paulie, and Silvio.

When Season 5 ended, besides being chilled to the bone by the grim and haunting image of Adriana scrambling out of the car in sheer terror with Silvio casually going about whacking her, I couldn't wait for Season 6, to see if Paulie betrayed Tony by going in with Johnny Sack and Phil Leotardo, or at least to see who lost out in what looked liked a brimming power struggle.

After this season's first couple of episodes, it still looked like we might get some great drama as Silvio started to see himself as Boss material, and Paulie looked ready to do something stupid at any moment. I found myself entering into a state of denial after the first few episodes, refusing to admit that I was disappointed, and clinging to my high hopes for the coming week's show, planted by the expertly-edited teaser clips.

Now we are nine episodes into Season 6, and I think Artie Bucco has had more lines and screentime than Paulie. They've got it all backwards over there. You're supposed to have episodes that center on the two "families" of Tony Soprano, with a lot of other peripheral subplots rounding it all out and accenting certain themes.

This season, the business of Tony's crew has been secondary to Vesuvio's slipping business and Vito's romantic escapades in New Hampshire. I'm all for following the New Jersey restaurant business and the under-the-radar New Hampshire "Fat Mob Underboss Seeks Gay Biker/Fireman" community, but not if it limits Christopher Moltisanti to merely cameo appearances.

I challenge any viewer to look back at the 73 episodes we've seen over the years and put any of this season's nine episodes in the Top 25. It's not possible.

My advice to David Chase and his staff of writers: If you write new episodes about Tony's crew, make them like the old ones in which Tony and Christopher struggle to balance the latter's potential and trusted, cozy position with his volatile temper and the havoc it occasionally wreaks. Or, if you write new episodes about Tony's home life, make them like the one where A.J. comes to realize what his dad does for a living. Remember that one, when A.J. gazes across the cemetery, at Jackie Aprile's funeral, and see his father in a whole new light? Or, kill two birds with one stone and come up with an episode on par with the one where Tony and Meadow go to look at colleges, and he has to sneak out to strangle the Witness-Protection-Program rat that he stumbled upon?

I suggest they get back to basics and start interspersing frequent slayings of mafia personnel with the goings-on around the Soprano household. And as long as they're whacking characters, could I put my vote in for starting with Janice Soprano?